What's Cooking (Take Three!)

Coq au vin for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I had to buy a couple of pounds of pork belly to get the raw material for the lardons. The rest will become Sichuan twice-cooked pork.

-Paul W.

The TG cooking is almost done. I have made a batch of chocolate orange ice cream, a pot of gravy (using some extra wings), the cranberry sauce (which seems a little over-seasoned somehow), a pumpkin pie, and, tonight I will make chocolate orange mousse. That leaves only the bird, stuffing (baked separately), and sauteed brussels sprouts for tomorrow. We will have perry and sparkling Beaujolais with the meal.

On the outs this year: no soup, no salad, no chocolate cake, and, most controversially, no mashed potatoes.

[Jenise]

We're having Thanksgiving with friends on Whidbey Island. I'm taking an appetizer, but nothing else.

Paul, speaking of Coq au Vin, at a new local French bistro the other day we had roast chicken with a coq au vin sauce. It was exquisite; all the flavors were there, just separate. Loved it.

[Jenise]

Last night I made Wokness: Shanghai oil noodles and shredded duck confit augmented with a generous amount of bok choy and scallions and seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, white pepper and fried onions preserved in soy bean oil. To each plate I added three fried shrimp*.

*One of my favorite cheats, these panko crusted shrimp come from Costco. I just put six on a metal tray and bake them at 400 in the toaster-oven before I start the stir-fry, and use them to garnish the finished dish. They are DELICIOUS. And adding them to what is otherwise a one-plate meal gives you a semblance of the Chinese restaurant experience in which one orders multiple dishes. My freezer is never without them. (Currently on sale for $12/box thru Dec 24th, too!)

Ah Jenise, Whidbey Island....brings back so many memories when Gene and I traveled in our RV up to that part of the country. Love it up there, San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor was a favorite. Gene and I would take our dog for a walk down to the docks. I liked getting there at a certain time to see the well coiffed ladies coming out of their yachts with there equally well coiffed dogs. It was amazing. Of course, I used to snicker at their attitude and demeanor, as they snubbed one another. Wonderful world of ferries, amazing what they carry back and forth. We never took our RV over cause we had a tow car (thank goodness) but loved all the islands, and culture.

I just finished making a Dutch Oven loaded with my favorite soup for winter.


8 servings
Lemony Chicken Soup with Orzo

Ingredients
4 leeks
4 stalks celery
breast meat from a rotisserie chicken
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp heaped, ginger, finely sliced or julienned
64 ounces (8 cups) good quality chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup orzo, raw
salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
several sprigs of fresh dill, fronds only
Instructions
Trim the leeks and slice them lengthwise. Remove any tough outer leaves, then slice into half moons. Put them in a large bowl of cold water and give it a good swish. Any dirt will sink to the bottom and you can then gently scoop the leeks out to drain on paper towels.
Trim and slice the celery, and shred your chicken.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy soup pot until hot. Add the garlic and ginger and saute over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Don't let the garlic brown.
Add the leeks and celery to the pot and sauté, stirring often, for a few minutes, until the leeks soften.
Add the stock and chicken to the pan. Bring up to a simmer and then add the orzo. Gently simmer until the orzo is just tender.
Taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Then add lemon juice to taste. Start with a tablespoon and go from there.
Stir in the fresh dill and serve immediately.

Tonight it is a Pomegranate Rosemary Pork tenderloin, pork is browned then cooked with pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic, fresh rosemary. Garnished with pomegranate seeds and rosemary. Rainbow carrots will be placed alongside to cook in the juices. A risotto dish my mom used to make, with fresh mushrooms, wine, onion, Beau Monde, Poultry seasoning and chicken stock
As usual, I will roast a sheet pan of veggies, so on the menu today is cauliflower, mini, colorful peppers, red onion, and zucchini. I'm using an Italian Herb seasoning, and will drizzle Lisbon Lemon juice all over after cooking. Oh, and I forgot, I am using the last of my homemade applesauce to dip the pork into. Colorful meal for sure.

[Jenise]

Boy does that soup sound great, Karen, although I admit that reading through the ingredients list I immediately found myself doubling the orzo. Thanks for posting, I'll definitely try that.

Tonight I'm roasting a chicken (Zuni Cafe style) with stuffing. It's our own private, personal little Thanksgiving dinner, simple but divine. No cranberry sauce, and no sides though I might
deviate from plan and make little ramekins layered with apples, yams, and cinnamon butter.

If you plan on doubling the orzo, you will need to double the rest of the ingredients....but I am sure you know that already!

[Jenise]

If you plan on doubling the orzo, you will need to double the rest of the ingredients....but I am sure you know that already!

I figure with 64 ounces of liquid, it's more than fine. If the resulting texture is closer to porridge than soup, that's also what I like.

[Jenise]

Tonight: enchilada pie. Ground beef, onions, red chile sauce, tortillas and a modest amount of cheese. I'll make it grand by drizzling it with a green chile/tomatillo/sour cream sauce and garnishing it with a freshly made pico de gallo san tomatoes, a decision based on color not flavor.

We're about to get snowed in, will be divine leftovers later in the week.

I hadn't heard of Shanghai oil noodles before so I looked it up. Jenise, is your dish the same as the Shanghai scallion oil noodles (cong you ban mian) that I found via Google?

-Paul W.

Jenise, love Enchilada Pie, it was a favorite of our kids. Used to make it regularly. Lots of things seem to disappear from family menus when kids move out. Plus it make a 9 X 13 dish. Will have to make that one of these days when the rug rats show up.

[Jenise]

I hadn't heard of Shanghai oil noodles before so I looked it up. Jenise, is your dish the same as the Shanghai scallion oil noodles (cong you ban mian) that I found via Google?

-Paul W.

Dunno. I did not use a recipe; I just duplicated the flavor of a dish called Shanghai Noodles that's popular in Chinese restaurants here. The package of noodles I bought were called Shanghai Oil Noodles--they're fully cooked and have been treated with some oil to enable them to separate, not stick together, in the dish.

[Jenise]

Jenise, love Enchilada Pie, it was a favorite of our kids. Used to make it regularly. Lots of things seem to disappear from family menus when kids move out. Plus it make a 9 X 13 dish. Will have to make that one of these days when the rug rats show up.

Bob said last night that this was the best enchilada pie he's ever had. I asked who else's he's had--personally, I have never had any except what I make, and I've never used a recipe. (I also make chicken and green chile versions.) When pressed, he couldn't recall any others though he believed his grade school cafeteria made a kiddie version. Which hardly counts. Anyway, we are not 9 x 13 people. I own that size pan of course, but almost never use them. I know that once upon a time it was the standard size for everything out of the oven, be it a sheet cake or a family casserole, but we're just two people and the size and shape are, to my eye, awkward.

So I do 8 x 8 which delivers four perfect 4" square portions out of 14 Trader Joe's yellow corn tortillas (thicker and sturdier than most store brands), 1 lb of ground beef, 1 onion diced, maybe 1 cup of shredded cheese and one regular sized can of Las Palmas Red Enchilada sauce. The only seasoning I add is salt to the beef and some Mexican oregano on top. But the dish gets fancier--and healthier (more raw vegetables, yay!) with the toppings. This time, a generous amount of finely diced sweet onion marinated with fresh squeezed lime juice and chopped cilantro in enough quantity to tumble off the sides of each portion gors on top, then diced avocado gets scooped into the center and, lastly, finely diced fresh jalapeno sprinkled over the whole. The green and white contrast to the red pie is lovely, as are the diverse flavors and textures.

Today, I am tossing Rio Zappe dried beans into the slow cooker. They will cook along with a sauce made from dried ancho, negro and guajillo peppers, cinnamon, cumin, garlic, cocoa powder, fennel seed, and sun - dried tomatoes, Dried peppers are toasted first then ground up with rest of ingredients. This will go with a roasted lamb rack tomorrow night, plus a simple dish of sliced russet potatoes, layered with onion, fresh thyme and beef stock cooked in the oven on low heat for about 2 1/2 to three hours. Very simple but yummy dish. I need to use up a cauliflower head, so am going to do a thick slice, cooked in tarragon butter until golden brown, as my veggie. Rio Zappe is a beautiful bean, purple and white and a favorite of mine because it cooks up so well and has a lovely pot liquor which will go well with the spicy chili sauce.

Jenise, I love our idea of putting those veggies on top of the pie. Now I am hungry for that dish.
The 8 x 8 pan is a good idea and one I had not thought of
I love pickled jalapeño and always have that in my fridge. Will use that instead of fresh,

Jenise, thanks for the info on your Shanghai oil noodles dish. The dish that I found with that name on Google involves wheat noodles stir-fried in a scallion-flavored oil. Perhaps those Shanghai oil noodles that you bought had been cooked in scallion-flavored oil?

I copied down one of the recipes that I found and it's on my list of dishes to try out.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Jenise, thanks for the info on your Shanghai oil noodles dish. The dish that I found with that name on Google involves wheat noodles stir-fried in a scallion-flavored oil. Perhaps those Shanghai oil noodles that you bought had been cooked in scallion-flavored oil?

-Paul W.

Mmm, no. You're confusing the finished dish known as Shanghai Noodles with the unseasoned but cooked noodle product made for same and called by almost the same name. At least, where I bought them that was the case. I'm not sure I've ever seen a fresh noodle called that before. Can't wait to go back and buy some more--I've made Shanghai Noodles twice now and I think I will always want to have those on hand now.

[Jenise]

Last night I made panko-crusted calamari steaks with a quick lime/garlic/vermouth/caper butter sauce on fregola. Frozen calamari steaks are something I only recently became a fan of owing to 1) the pandemic which forced me to think harder about having more variety in my freezer between shopping trips and 2) discovering that a small market near me always has some in their freezer section that are very, very good.

Oh, and fregola! I was delighted to learn recently on Stanley Tucci's show that fregola originated in Calabria. I really didn't know where it was from, only that it's relatively rare here on the West Coast where I've spent most of my life. It's available at an Italian store I love in Canada, however, so these days I nearly always have some on hand.

I have never heard of Fregola, but I looked it up because it looks like Israeli Couscous, which I use a lot of. They are almost the same size but have a few differences, but the Israeli Couscous can be a substitute for the couscous in recipes. Research said it is hard to find.

[Jenise]

I have never heard of Fregola, but I looked it up because it looks like Israeli Couscous, which I use a lot of. They are almost the same size but have a few differences, but the Israeli Couscous can be a substitute for the couscous in recipes. Research said it is hard to find.

Yes, very similar to Israeli couscous, but Israeli isn't pre-toasted, right? Great nutty flavor, we really like.

Simple breakfast today: homemade scones* with currants, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Then we went to see a Thomas Cole exhibit (I'm a fan of him--a forerunner of the Hudson River School). It was quite wonderful.


*I used a different recipe than usual that used eggs: the scones were somewhat crispy outside and soft inside. Yummy.

Shepherd's Pie tonight, made with a mix of lamb and beef, and stout instead of stock. Pretty good.

We were at a concert of chamber music by Handel and Vivaldi. Quite a stellar cast of musicians, too: one played a Stradivarius, one played an Amati, one played on Isaac Stern's violin, one played a cello from 1725, another played one from 1890, the counter-tenor has won a Grammy, and the oboe player was a Fulbright scholar!